President Duterte has accepted the resignation of former President and mentor Fidel V. Ramos as special envoy to China. But they have not separated ways.
Ramos said he still remains a partner of Team Philippines after his resignation as special envoy and assured his steadfast support in advancing the national interests.
In tendering his resignation, Ramos informed the President that he and his team have already contributed to the “breaking of the ice” in the country’s relations with China.
“Given that your State Visit to the PROC was officially wide-ranging, which has resulted in renewed bilateral relations between our two countries, kindly allow me to step down as the special envoy of the President to the People’s Republic of China,” Ramos said in his resignation letter to Duterte.
The President said he received Ramos’ letter Tuesday and thanked the former president for his service and his help.
“I’d like to thank him for helping me and being of service to the nation even at his age,” he said.
Ramos was appointed by President Duterte in July this year to ease tension between the Philippines and China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said there can be no better envoy to China than the President himself.
COMMITMENT
Lately, Ramos had been critical of Duterte’s move against certain issues like Climate Change and his profanity-laden tirades against the United States and the United Nations in his column at the Manila Bulletin. But Duterte assured there is no tension between him and the former president who was instrumental in making him president.
“I take his advice. But you know I have my own way of assessing it. For example… I have not heard but it was stated there in one newspaper about extrajudicial killing. He knows that I do not do it and we do not do it. He was once upon a time the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). Hindi na ginagawa ‘yan,“ the President said.
“So, I think… off tangent ‘yan sa… Pero sabihin mo na may mga patayan palagi, that is a part of my— You know when I ran for President, I promised you, my covenant with the people was this: I will stop corruption and I will do it. And I said I will stop drugs and I said I will do it. And third is that I will stop criminality so that we can move on with our lives. I will do it,” he added,
“So, pasensya na lang if you do not like my commitment which to me was a sacred promise during the last elections… And I will do it until the last pusher is out of the streets and the last drug lord in this country is exterminated,” Duterte continued.
ELBOW ROOM
In his most recent column on Climate Change, Ramos lashed out at Duterte for his refusal to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Ramos offered the view that the country will become more prone to the effects of typhoons if the current administration will refuse to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
But Duterte said: “I’m just being careful. It doesn’t mean to say that I do not want typhoons and storms to come to planet earth everyday.”
“I have to study the matter very carefully, maybe in the Senate, I was just giving my misgivings about, baka hanggang dito ka lang,” Duterte added gesturing at how the pact could limit the country’s development.
“Kakaumpisa pa lang natin. Nagyaya ako ng maraming mga investors, tatayo ako ng industrial estates. There will be a lot of smoke there and pollution. Titingnan ko lang na meron akong leeway and elbow room to move because the treaty now that is being signed or passed around for signing is binding,” he stated.
INDEPENDENT POLICY
On his independent foreign policy stand, Duterte said: “Hindi kami nagkaintindihan diyan.” The President added though that he understood where Ramos was coming from when the latter criticized him for his anti-US rhetoric.
“I know he is pro-Western. He is a military man who studied there (in the US). You must remember Ramos finished his (studies) in West Point. He really does not want to fight (with the US),” Duterte told reporters after visiting his parents’ grave in Davao Tuesday.
But he said he and Ramos have different ways of seeing, assessing things. “Iba si Ramos, Iba ako.”
When asked if he would still consult Ramos despite their differences, Duterte said, “yes, of course, if he cares to listen. Hindi naman siguro sabihin na nag-resign siya as special envoy, hindi na ako makapag-tanong sa kanya,” said the President.
The post Duterte Thanks FVR for His Help and There is No Tension Between Them appeared first on Manila Bulletin
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